1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette loading apparatus for a cassette tape recorder which is designed to increase the reliability and the operativity in mounting a tape cassette onto a tape recorder mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While in recent years attempts have been made to reduce the cost of manufacture, the size and the weight of electric audio appliances, improvement in operativity and quality has come to be demanded.
With the prior art tape recorder mechanism, in order to increase the reliability in mounting of the tape cassette, the use of an electric switch has been generally made to detect the mounting of the tape cassette so that unless the tape cassette is properly mounted at a normal position at which the tape recorder mechanism operates to play, i.e., record or reproduce information on or from a length of tape, the tape recorder mechanism can be disabled. Should the tape recorder mechanism be enabled while by some other reason the tape cassette has not been properly mounted at the normal position at which the tape recorder mechanism operates to play, in order to avoid any possible abnormality or trouble which would be brought about by damage to the tape cassette, a magnetic recording and/or reproducing head and/or inhibition of rotation of the drive motor resulting from collision of the magnetic head with the tape cassette incident to movement of a head carrier plate having the magnetic head mounted thereon, mechanism component parts have been so designed and so configured as to mount a magnetic recording and/or reproducing head on a head carrier plate through a separate member so that in the event of the collision, the magnetic head can be escaped together with the separate member to lessen the impact which would be brought about by the collision, thereby preventing the drive motor as well from being excessively loaded.
However, the attempt having hitherto been made requires the use of an electric circuit in combination with the switch, rendering the assembly to be costly. In addition, in order for the switch to accurately detect the position of the tape cassette, an excessive stroke is required to compensate for variation in position of the switch contacts and also to ensure a proper contact pressure. Moreover, there is many problems associated with the quality and reliability such as, for example, the abnormality or trouble resulting from damages to the tape cassette and/or the magnetic head and/or blockage of rotation of the motor which would occur as a result of collision of the magnetic head against the tape cassette incident to movement of the head carrier plate carrying the magnetic head particularly when the tape recorder mechanism is enabled while the tape cassette has not yet been properly mounted at the normal position at which the tape recorder mechanism can operate to play, the magnetic head may collide.
In order to substantially eliminate those problems, the mechanism component parts should be so configured and so designed as to mount the magnetic head on a separate member which is in turn mounted on the head carrier plate so that in the event of the collision the magnetic head can be escaped together with the separate member to thereby lessen the impact and also to prevent the drive motor from being excessively loaded, involving an increase in cost, size and weight and a reduction in quality.